Hello All! I hope you have had an amazing summer, and hopefully been able to explore some more of your own country thanks to Covid-19. My name is Caitlin Firn, I am, at the time of writing this, about to go into my 3rd year of Law LLB at the University of Southampton. I thought it would be helpful to explain my experience with international online learning in case you are put in the same unfortunate position next year.
This summer I was a student in the Law and Economics module at the University of Stockholm. I decided to apply for this course to gain a deeper exposure to economic concepts that would help me develop my own commercial awareness and support my legal studies. This module was 2 weeks long consisting of 3 2-hour sessions a week, so all in all, short and succinct.
There is a 1-hour time zone between the UK and Sweden and so it meant getting up an hour earlier than my peers – but not to worry because I sat with a good milky cuppa and a cheeky pastry to get my energy levels up. On the calls were people from across the world, Canada, Australia, Russia, India etc. and it was so nice to meet people from different cultures – something valuable when we discussed topics to gain alternative perspectives.
We engaged in various challenges including a negotiation challenge between three teams. My team played the honest but harsh tactic, informing the others we were going to choose the option most detrimental to them every time – which we did – and we won. It was a fun way to explore economic theories we were learning about, ensuring the course remained as interactive as it would have in person.
The course culminated in a 2000-word essay on a topic of your choice, I chose the Law and Economics of the Olympics and found the theories we had learnt applied perfectly to the procedure and expense of hosting the Olympics.
It was a shame that we could not do the course in person, but we all managed to interact both academically and personally which was really nice. Even if Covid-19 renders the summer schools online again next year I will definitely be applying and recommend you to do the same!
Good Luck all!
Caitlin Firn